Pimento Cheese is truly a Southern thing and it’s often called the “Caviar of the South”. Full of cheesy goodness, pimento cheese can be spread on crackers, melted on top of burgers, and used to make an amazing grilled cheese, but the most common use is to make pimento cheese sandwiches.
Pimento cheese is such a quintessential Southern food, it’s hard to find a church social, backyard barbecue, children’s birthday party, wedding or baby shower, or an afternoon tea or picnic in the South that doesn’t feature a plate full of pimento cheese sandwiches. Pimento cheese sandwiches are often served with the crust removed and cut into quarters.
In fact, pimento cheese sandwiches are one of the most popular foods among spectators at the Masters Golf Tournament, held each year in Augusta, Georgia. There was even an event coined “Pimentogate” in 2013, when the tournament officials changed food vendors and, to the chagrin of regular attendees who looked forward to these popular sandwiches every year, the recipe changed.
Like Southern Potato Salad and Mac and Cheese, there are probably as many recipes for pimento cheese spread as there are Southern cooks. And, it’s hard to find a Southern cookbook without at least one pimento cheese spread recipe. But, this recipe for Kay’s Southern Pimento Cheese Spread is my all-time favorite and I serve it all the time as an appetizer on crackers.
Kay’s recipe doesn’t use quite as much mayonnaise as most other recipes and she substitutes roasted red bell peppers for pimentos. This delicious pimento cheese has just the right amount of heat! I first had Kay’s Southern Pimento Cheese Spread at a dinner party at her home and it was love at first bite. Kay graciously agreed to share her recipe with me and I can’t wait for you to try it too!
Southern Pimento Cheese Ingredients:
Pimento Cheese Spread is really easy to make and you can whip up a batch in about 15 minutes. All you need is extra sharp cheddar cheese, extra sharp white cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, jarred roasted red peppers. ground red pepper and ground black pepper. That’s it! It couldn’t be simpler.
To make Kay’s easy Southern Pimento Cheese Spread, gather your ingredients and use a box grater or a food processor to grate the cheese.
Drain the roasted red bell pepper and mince.
Place the grated cheese, red and black pepper, minced roasted red bell pepper and mayonnaise in a medium-size bowl and mix to combine.
Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.
Will keep in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
Looking for other popular recipes from the South? Check out these delicious favorites: Southern Potato Salad, Southern Pecan Praline Cake, Southern Style Crab Cakes, and Easy Classic Southern Tomato Pie. Intrigued? Check out, even more, Southern Recipes.
Kay's Southern Pimento Cheese Spread
Ingredients
- 5 oz extra sharp yellow cheddar cheese
- 5 oz extra sharp white cheddar cheese
- 1/4 tsp ground red pepper
- 5-6 grinds black pepper
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 roasted red bell pepper drained and minced
Instructions
- Use a box grater or a food processor and grate the cheese.
- Drain the roasted red bell pepper and mince.
- Place the grated cheese, red and black pepper, minced roasted red bell pepper and mayonnaise in a medium-size bowl and mix to combine.
- Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.
- Will keep in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
I love pimento cheese on pumpernickel then cooked like a grilled cheese! Serious comfort food!
I just made this pimiento cheese again…It’s perfect!!!! My husband, who always adjusts my seasoning for me…he’s Virgo and has perfect seasoning taste buds…said it didn’t need anything…perfect!!!!! My 12-oz jars of roasted red peppers has 2 whole roasted red bell pepper so I used 1 for this recipe…I minced with with a big butcher knife, not the food processor and had beautiful red pepper bits all through it!!!! Also perfected for toasted (in the skillet) pimiento cheese sandwiches with soup…It does melt and run down your arm but that’s what makes it good, haaa..Thanks again for a great recipe!!!
In the directions, you repeat #3 like #2 …Is that an error?
Hi Dianne,
Thanks so much for bringing that to my attention! I just corrected it.
All my best,
Sharon
Trying to make this pimiento cheese and not sure how much roasted bell pepper to use. Do you mean 1 whole pepper? Do you mean the whole jar (how many oz, would that be? I have a 12-oz. jar and when I empty it, it looks like 1 whole pepper. Do I use the whole pepper? Thank you!!!
Hi Dianne,
I actually called Kay Judkins who originally gave me this delicious recipe because I didn’t have a jar of peppers to look at. You do use 1 roasted bell pepper. Kay said she had a 15 oz jar and it looks like there are quite a few individual peppers in it. She said she thought that a 12-ounce jar ought to have about 4 peppers in it. I don’t know if the jar you have has really large peppers, but I think I would use about 1/4 of the jar of peppers you have and see if that works with the recipe. If not, you can always add more to taste, but once they go in, it will be really hard to get the excess out.
I hope this helps and I was able to get back with you in time.
All my best,
Sharon
Sharon, this was a fabulous pimento cheese recipe. This is my new go to recipe. So glad I discovered it here on your blog.
Velva
Thanks so much Velva, coming from you that’s high praise! I’m so glad you like it. It’s my go to recipe as well!
I love a good pimento cheese and this recipe does not disappoint! Don’t forget to use the Dukes….. mmmmmmm
Thanks Courtney! So glad you liked it! And, you are right about Dukes! It’s the best!